Swede Yong Lean spent almost half of his life seeking Internet attention in search of a stronghold. Discovered on YouTube as a rapper with an angelic face and a foul mouth, he looked up to his American internet contemporaries but was eager to carve his own path outside of Stockholm.
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As the leader of the group Sad Boys, Lean (real name Jonathan Leandor Hastad) chose an independent path over the commitments of a major label in the 2010s, quickly becoming a cult sensation for the way his music blended fearless irony, adolescent hedonism, and psychedelic beauty.
The group, which also included producers Yon Sherman and Gad, helped expand the underground hip-hop genre known as cloud rap with its dreamy textures and melancholic atmosphere.
Across more than a dozen albums and mixtapes, Lean has also experimented with folk, emo, and post-punk, like his latest album released this year, “Jonathan,” making him something of a Zelig-esque figure in modern music: your favorite artist’s favorite artist.
At age 18, while living and recording in Miami, Lean descended into psychosis due to drug use and undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and her manager passed away in 2015. At the same time, a long journey of depression and recovery ensued, and Leanne eventually turned her energies to more forms of expression, including visual art, boxing, and now acting.
—I’m 29 now, almost 30,” Leann told the New York Times music show Popcast. — I put a lot of effort into myself. I’ve been in some really weird situations, but I’ve gotten through it.
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Now he is ready for the creative and professional expansion that a solid artistic foundation has provided him with.
— I like the idea of giving yourself completely, but you have to give yourself at the right time, when you’re ready.
In addition to continuing to tour to promote Jonathan, she made her film debut alongside Vincent Cassel, Chris Evans, and Anya Taylor-Joy in Romain Gavras’s The Sacrifice, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September.
On Popcast, Lean discussed his latest creative project. The winding journey that led him to this moment. And the wisdom he can share from the other side. These are excerpts from the conversation.
Joe Coscarelli: When did you start rapping in English?
My mother works in human rights, so I lived in Hanoi and studied at an international school when I was in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. There was a mix of Vietnamese children, Korean, American, Kenyan, and Swedish children. And at that time I felt very alienated. I became really lonely and found my own hobby. My plan was to download albums from the Pirate Bay on my school computer. I studied the whole history of hip-hop, electronic music, and punk. I started doodling and then started writing letters in English.
Joe Caramanica: I haven’t had many interviews like this. The last time it happened was almost 10 years ago, after a very dark time in Miami. When was the last time you became conscious and thought, “I have to go home”?
I was forced into it. I was so young and in a downward spiral that I was probably unconsciously driving myself crazy? Since I was young, I’ve romanticized drugs, and I’ve romanticized madness. I liked maniac artists like Daniel Johnston and strange characters like Charles Manson. I wanted to see if I could push myself to the limit. It’s really weird looking back on it now, but I feel like I had to put myself in that place to get out of it.
Coscarelli: When did you feel strong enough to go into this phase of acting, touring, painting, and training for boxing?
When I took control. I stopped taking kratom two years ago and am basically sober. Then I got completely sober and lost a lot of weight. Everything became a little ridiculous again. You can see that it’s not that deep, it’s not like that.
Coscarelli: It seems to be quite deep.
At one point it was deep, yes, heavy. But this circus of fame, accomplishments, influence, and putting on a show is all a simulation that you take part in, and you don’t have to take it too seriously.
Caramanica: What is it like to be part of a feature film?
Making an album is like pretending to be Einstein in a cabin, discovering equations that no one has ever heard of. But making a movie is like 300 people working hard like an ant colony. I thought this was beautiful.
Coscarelli: Are you proud of your performance?
wonderful. I had never acted like this in dialogue or action scenes, but at one point the French cinematographer said, “Wow, this new Swedish actor has a very avant-garde way of doing things.” Then Roman started laughing, “He’s not an actor, he’s a rapper!”
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